Trade Unionism in agriculture
José Gómez Cerda
General Secretary FELTRA
Unionization
rate in the agricultural sector is too low compared to other professional
sectors due to the limitations of labor legislation, which in many cases
discriminate the rural sector. Even in agricultural countries, such as China and
India, the unionization rate is too low.
In
many countries, leaders of farmer unions are laid off, pursued, imprisoned and
even killed as a result of their union activities.
Article
65 of the ILO Convention 110 on plantations
establishes a set of regulations on freedom of association:
“Workers’
organizations shall have the right to establish and join federations and
confederations and any such organization, federation or confederation shall have
the right to affiliate with international organizations of workers ... .”
In
spite of this regulation, many governments and multinational corporations ban
agricultural workers from organizing unions.
Here are some cases of violations of human and union rights that took place in 1999, in different parts of the world:
Both
authorities and foreign investors expelled farm workers from their lands. For
example, in Soavinandriana, in the province of Antananarivo, a former minister
of the current government confiscated an area of approximately 80 acres using a
land title obtained illegally. In Ambalavao, located in the province of
Fianarantsoa, indopakistani investors expelled farm workers from an area of 29
acres, in which they worked during many years. Moreover, the vanilla industry in
Sambava and Antalaha faces serious problems day after day. The agricultural
workers have to use guns to protect themselves against violence while they are
doing their job. Nowadays, England is using Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs).
This fact threatens to destroy the vanilla industry in Madagascar, which is the
only source of income of thousands of agricultural workers in this country.
In relation to the tobacco industry, workers do not have the liberty to negotiate their products; instead they have to sell them to the Malagasy Office of Tobacco, which buys the products at extremely low prices. The Malagasy Workers’ Federation (FEKRITAMA) has established a union in Ambalavao, with the purpose of gathering and marketing directly the tobacco products between its members and the manufacturing industries. They obtained excellent results, until June 1999, when the police seized goods in order to give them to the Malagasy Office of Tobacco. The case is being discussed in court.
On
December 14, 1999, Kasper Sibuea, president of the Forestry and Agricultural
Union of Indonesia, was arrested and accused of provoking a strike to demand the
application of a labor code in the company Riau Andalan Pulp & Paper,
located in Riau, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
On
January 26, 2000, the state law enforcement officers (KP3) arrested, in Belawan,
North Sumatra, a fisherman named M. Yahya of Gadung
Karga Agung. M. Yahya was tortured and denied by the authorities the right
to have an attorney.
The
strength of the farm struggle has given rise to a movement organized by the
National Federation of Guatemalan Workers (CGTG) and the Popular Farmers’
Federation (FEDECAMPO). 150 agricultural workers and their families were laid
off four years ago in the South Coast, so they decided to demonstrate on April
16, 1999, from Cocales, Suchitepequez State, to the city of Guatemala. They made
a stop in the Plaza de la Constitución
in front of the Palacio Nacional and
returned on April 26. There, they threatened to come back in order to claim for
the reinstatement of their jobs if there were no satisfactory answers. In spite
of the fact that a court ordered the reinstatement four years ago, the decision
has been infringed. Until now, neither the court system nor the government are
interested in carrying the decision out. Moreover, workers do not find jobs in
other farms, due to the fact that they are trade unionists and that they are
falsely accused of being part of the guerrillas.
All the serious problems rural workers have to face every day have strengthen trade unionism in agriculture. This is a consequence of both the consciousness-raising and the recognition that the unionism represents the driving force of human development. However, it is necessary to overcome obstacles such as cultural and communication problems, illiteracy and unemployment.
Farm
workers of Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe affiliated to union
organizations declare:
After
an analysis, diagnosis and interpretation of the reality of the Third World
farm workers, we have confirmed:
1.
Workers and especially farm workers are being exploited as a consequence of
the neoliberal policies performed by most of our governments. We verified the
Third World nations have enough lands to produce all the food we need, however,
its distribution is unequal. The lands are in the hands of landowners and
agricultural Industries,
affiliated to important transnational companies.
2.
In contrast to the above mentioned, millions of rural families do not have the
chance to own this natural resource, which is a vital production factor in the
economic, social and cultural development of our nations.
3.
As a consequence of the exploitation, exclusion and concentration of the land
in few hands, more than 50% of rural families live in poverty, hunger and do
not have basic public utilities.
4.
Considering the hunger and misery that millions of rural families have to bear
as a result of this cruel capitalism, we have verified the United States of
America and Europe have already drawn their agricultural policies, whereas our
governments have not created a common agricultural policy for the Third World.
This situation will affect production, commercial trading and exportation of
agricultural products and the poorest sectors of society will suffer the most
terrible consequences.
5.
As a consequence of the implementation of the capitalist policies, (indiscriminate
food importation, free acquisition of lands, market loss of our products,
imposition of restrictive quotas and high import levies)
the weak agrarian reform processes that were being set forth in the
Third World disappeared. Therefore,
farmers had to produce non- competitive items and products in which the rich
countries are interested.
6.
In our countries Indigenous communities are in precarious conditions and are
subjected to false compliment by governments. Moreover, some NGOs manipulate
and exploit them for economic and political reasons.
7.
Out of greed, multinational companies are making use of science and technology
to destroy the environment and the biodiversity causing desert encroachment
and soil exhaustion in the poorest countries, as well as water poisoning, air
pollution and flora and fauna destruction due to the excessive use of
pesticides, fungicides and other agrochemical products that pose a threat to
human health. Last but not least, companies are using genetic engineering with
human beings, animals and vegetables with unknown consequences.
Under
these circumstances, we, farm workers, resolve:
First:
to reaffirm our total and absolute opposition against neoliberalism and the
globalization process, the main causes of poverty, hunger and misery in our
countries.
Second:
to
demand food security, while emphasizing on the self-sufficiency of our
countries in terms of food production.
Third:
to
call for an integral agrarian reform that guarantees a share of land to
whomever works on it, that includes indigenous communities, the ancestral
owners of the land, as well as women and children, granting them prompt and
sufficient financial aid, technical assistance and marketing of their products.
Forth:
to
urge our governments to define agricultural policies that protect small
producers and farm workers from multinational corporations and international
interests, which are implementing economic actions that will run our farm
products and traditional exports out of competition.
Fifth:
to
urge our indigenous communities and tribes that form part of the cultural
geography of our countries to reject any kind of manipulation and to demand
our governments to respect the international conventions that protect them.
Sixth:
to
join forces with environmental, religious and social organizations, as well as
public and private institutions in order to fight for the protection of
life, nature and the environment. First, by labeling as crimes against
humanity the procedures of multinational corporations, which by creating
genetically-modified organisms (GMOs)
are posing a threat to the health of humans, animals, plants and the
environment.
Finally: in the face of these demands, we urge all unions, agricultural cooperatives and other organizations of the civil society in each and every one of our countries, to renovate and restructure themselves in order to be prepared to effectively defend the interests of our farm workers with an ethical guideline that shows profound respect for manki
Article
3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims that:
“Everyone
has the right to life, liberty and security of person”.
In
spite of the fact that the right to life is vital, human rights are violated in
the agricultural sector every day. Moreover, the killing of union leaders is
widespread.
Despite
the presence of guerrillas, violence and the infringement of human rights are
frequent elements in rural areas. Many times these facts are not known by the
general public. This is not the case of urban areas.
Here
are some recent cases:
Brazilian
union leader Chico Mendes was murdered on December 22, 1988. Brazilian
landowners decided to kill Mendes due to his work in the defense of the
Amazonian rainforest and its inhabitants. He was designing the project of the
extraction reserves, which was a model of sustainable management and
conservation of the Amazonian.
This project attempted to slow down the massive felling of trees, fires and the land price speculation. One year after the Mendes murder, a decree-law was signed, that permitted the creation of the extraction reserve figure as a territorial space especially protected for the sustainable use of resources and the benefit of the local populations. The extractive reserve “Chico Mendes” was also created. However, the crime remains unsolved and the assassination of union leaders, lawyers, missionaries and ecologists still occur.
Medardo
Reyes Varela, chairman of the Organización
de Defensa y Reclamos Nacionales de Honduras, which is affiliated to the Federación
de Comités Agropecuarios Diversificados de Honduras (FECADH) and to the
National Federation of Workers (CGT),
was murdered in Tocoa, in the department
of Colon, Honduras. Reyes Varela had reported the multinational United
Fruit Company on the excessive use of an extremely toxic pesticide known as
Nemagon.
Chad
Workers
in cotton plantations in Chad, Africa, went on strike due to the sagging of
cotton prices. Civic and military authorities soon issued a death threat against
them. In November 1999, in Kake and Dekombe,
three livestock workers and one farmer were killed and “security forces”
stole tools from the victims houses, seeds and 50 oxen.
In
Brazil, on December 23, 1999, policemen accused of assassinating 19 farm workers
in Para state, in 1996, were absolved. A court of Belem declared non-guilty 150
policemen who were on trial for shooting against 2500 farmers belonging
to the Landless Workers’ Movement.
In
Colombia, on November 19 de 1999, 19 agricultural workers were killed in La
Gabarra, thus increasing the number of Colombian farm workers murdered up to 116
in the last months only in the regions of La Gabarra, Tibu and Cucuta, of the
Santander department. The
agricultural sector is the most affected by civil wars, famine and military and
paramilitary violations.
The World Federation of Agricultural, Food, Hotel and Allied Workers (WFAFW) protested vigorously against the assassination of the union leader Cesar Herrera Torreglosa, General Secretary of the Colombian Agricultural Workers’ union (SINTRAINAGRO). Herrera was killed when he was entering the union’s regional office in Cienaga, the capital of Magdalena province, Colombia. At that time, the union was preparing to negotiate with the multinational companies Del Monte y Chiquita. Few days before the killing, the most important Colombian union organizations: (CGTD, CUT, CTC, CPC) and business organizations have signed an agreement “IN FAVOR OF PEACE AND AGAINST THE VIOLENCE IN COLOMBIA”, making a call to truce in Christmas and new year days. During the last 12 years, almost 3,000 unionists have been killed and most of these cases have not been solved. According to different sources, since 1987 until 1999, paramilitary forces assassinated between 2,500 and 3,000 unionists, sometimes with the help of the military forces. Most of the crimes were committed in rural and agricultural areas. This situation provoked the International Labor Organization (ILO) decided to send a direct mission to Colombia in order to investigate human and union rights violations. This agreement between the government and the Colombian unions was made in parallel with the ILO, in November 1999, in Geneva. Still remains unknown the decision related to the sending of a survey mission, which solicitude is based in article 26 of the ILO constitution and its execution depends on the report of the mentioned direct mission. The ILO will have to examine the report in June, 2000.
José
Gómez Cerda